Dad's 1968

[Silverfins]

Hello all, I have an interesting truck in the process of restoring and I was hoping to get some information and opinions on it. I've been researching a lot, and this website seems to be my best bet at information on these trucks.

Firstly here's some history on the truck: My dad was a Vietnam vet who made a hobby of working on cars after his time in the war, he bought a 1968 GMC Stepside off of a friend and during the last years of his life spent most of his time working on it. After his passing my older brother wrecked it into a tree, completely destroying the front end. My dad had always meant for the truck to go to me when I was old enough, but I was only 9 at the time of his death.

After the wreck the truck was turned over to another family member who made it road worthy again, the original front end was replaced with a '72 front end, the motor was replaced with a late 70's 350, and the transmission came out of a 80's model. My fathers best friend contributed a 'Chevrolet' tailgate from his gold C10.

Now flash forward over a decade, I'm now 23 years old and I bought my dad's truck back for $3000, I plan on this truck being a life-long project of mine. I'm a complete greenhorn at restorations, and I'm definitely no mechanic - yet. So far I've replaced the battery, starter, radiator, distributor, spark plugs, and I'm currently in the process of installing an entirely new wiring harness inside and out.

What I've had on my mind the past few months was what to replace the front end with, as I'm never going to sell the vehicle I don't care too much about keep it vin# original. I can either:

•Keep the '72 Chevy Eggcrate.
•Restore it to the '68 GMC it came out of the factory as.
•Restore it as a '68 - '69 Chevy C10.

Now here's some questions

Since it currently has a '72 style hood/fenders on it, would it be hard to put a '68 hood back on it instead? I read that the front end dimensions were different between those years and I would have to replace the entire front end in order to do that.

Also I definitely want to keep my 'uncles' gold Chevrolet tailgate, and I'm kind of partial to restoring it entirely as a Chevy instead of the GMC it came out of the factory as, dat bowtie aesthetic and all. Is there any reason why I shouldn't? GMC's do seem to be a little rarer to find.

And finally, are there any differences to the interior between a '68 and a '69?

I'll add some pictures in my next post.

[Jfarns03]

I would do a full tear down. Paint the frame (yourself, harbor freight paint gun works great) lower it the correct way, drop a 4.8l or 5.3l into it and a paint job with the original 68 front end

[70cst]

Hey Silverfins ...

to the forums and from Ohio.

Even though I have a 70C10 ... the 68 front ends are cool. I would go back to a 68 front end if possible. Just my opinion.

[hugger6933]

While a ls conversion would be real cool in this truck, I would shy away from it with as little wrench time as you have. Not trying to insult you but a ls conversion can be rather involved and I would hate to see you did overwhelmed and discouraged. the story with the truck is a great one but it really will all fall on to you as to how you want the truck to be, if you were to change it back to the 68 style hood keep in mind the fenders and core support and grille and bumper are different as well. Pretty much the whole front cap is different. jim

[steelhorse]

Welcome and good luck with your truck. The direction you take depends on what it is you want.